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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I grew up in the rural furniture and textile South. Except the furniture plants moved overseas and the textile plants went bankrupt.  Tobacco is winding down too.  And the area, which was no great shakes and pretty poor to begin with, is now deeply depressed.   So I get why they voted Trump. (BTW-- this was a part of the South with openly racist, homophobic people who have never met a Muslim, and fly a confederate fly on their pickup, so there is some of that too).

But, putting aside for the moment how we got here-- those jobs aren't coming back. But don't tell that to my High school classmates on my FB feed, who are waiting for Trump to revive the furniture, textile and tobacco industries. And these now 40 year old often dropped out of school the day they turned 16 to work in the furniture factory, like their dad and grandad.  So, they have no transferable skills or education.  It's a terrible position for anyone to be in. But, telling them manufacturing is coming back is cruel. It's just not.  And until someone is brave enough to be up front about that and offer real retraining programs, and tell them that their next job may pay less,  they are screwed.  It's like my whole hometown is waiting for Trump Godot.

And, BTW, this is in NC. So good luck with trying to bring in new industries to replace those that left while the politicians running the state are more concerned about making sure transgendered people are using the correct bathroom than bringing in new business. The whole state is being boycotted.

I was one of the few people I know in this area who was not shocked Trump won, because I get why people voted for him. But because I do care about where I came from, his win was tough for me.  I do believe that under his policies, my Fed job and college elite lifestyle in the DMV area wil be fine, I will pay less taxes and continue to have good federal health insurance. But my hometown will be worse of in 4 years than it is now.  And they do need real help. [/quote]

Thanks for your refreshing take on the situation . In the spirit of truthfulness , it's safe to say your 'people '  are simply idiotic , at least the majority in that demography. I am not one to pay much attention to an individual's academic pedigree simply because I believe there comes a time in life when we all have to exercise better judgement , or, at the very least try as hard as we can to think critically and calmly for ourselves . If, in spite of everything you wrote above  those people still choose to cling to a world that stopped existing thanks in no small part to the policies they've voted for . I think my sympathy is reserved for a more deserving  group , your 'people ' aren't making the cut

You're absolutely right , these folks are about to be worse off than they're now . They have it coming

[/quote]

Do they have it coming? Yes and no.  I asked my MS DD after the election, when I was explaining it to her, what percentage of people she though had a college degree. And she said everyone did. That is her world.  Almost everyone she knows in the community went to college.   She could not fathom a place, like my high school, where maybe 1/4 of the kids went to some type of 2 or 4 year college.  And many of those did not get a degree. And only 2-3 kids per graduating class made it out. Generational poverty and generations of families where no one has a high school education, and where the expectation is that you will drop out and work as soon as you legally can is not easy to fix.  And it's hard for someone with a 10 th grade education to understand the intricacies of NAFTA or health insurance markets. Especially when that 10th grade education was in crappy schools, and they are functionally illiterate. This is not the WAPo, NPR crowd.  Think more Friday Night Lights, with less football talent.

So yes, they made bad decisions, and hurt themselves, and the rest of us. But I'm not sure they have the education or savvy to understand that Trump was selling snake oil.

And it's just complicated. This is where I grew up, and where my parents still live. But, DH and I made a very conscious decision not to raise our children there.  I care about the people there, and am also deeply disappointed in them. They were at one point "my people," although I never really 100% fit in.  But, I could not move back now and just become part of the community again. If I was unusual at 15, at 40, I'm an alien.

It's sad, and depressing, and complicated with no apparent fix. But it is not as simple as idiots who deserve what they get.

[/quote]
Sorry, it's hard to have sympathy for them when I see poor legal immigrants who don't speak any English manage to find *some* kind of job, and push their kids to go to college.  Those people you speak of have two major advantages most immigrants don't have:  knowing the language and culture of this country. There really should be no excuse.[/quote]

Totally agree . The mere fact that excuses are being made for these people , prove how fundamentally racist and bigoted this country is . When 'others' are reeling from economic hardships we're served a constant stream of sermons about character defect , personal responsibility , hard work and what not . Let them eat brioche [/quote]

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